At times, there were walls of fire burning around them. More than a dozen homes were destroyed in Montana, and thousands of firefighters were battling other blazes Tuesday in OR and Wyoming.
Advertisement
Fire investigators determined an unattended campfire started the blaze July 22 in Garapata Park.
Officials on Tuesday said the blaze, which has charred more than 43,000 acres and is less than 18 percent contained, was sparked by an illegal, abandoned campfire. It was 25 percent contained.
All California state parks in the area were closed until further notice.
The 13-day-old conflagration near Big Sur is one of almost 30 major wildfires reported to have scorched roughly 700 square miles (1,813 sq km) in 12 states, mostly in the West, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho.
The eight-square-kilometre blaze started Saturday and quickly spread through steep, rugged terrain covered with dry vegetation and dead trees.
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said Tuesday that the C-130s are expected to be ready for firefighting missions on Wednesday.
The blaze started Tuesday afternoon and grew to 2.6 square miles in hours.
The $60,000 yurt is a round, tent-like structure with a dome roof and plastic skin.
The Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation has five other yurts it manages as part of an agreement with the Boise National Forest, and several remain threatened.
A western Montana wildfire has grown to 11 square miles in the Bitterroot National Forest.
Fire crews have repeatedly had to abandon fire lines as the flames moved north. Myslivy says crews are trying to build another line using a prescribed burn near Lowman.
Officials predicted humidity in the single-digits in the Virginia Mountains with wind gusts up to 45 miles per hour.
By Wednesday morning, authorities say crews had gained some containment of the fire. Residents of the rural area surrounded by rolling hills told reporters they scrambled to evacuate with their animals as the wind-driven blaze swept through dry slopes.
The fire has led to the partial closure of the Pacific Crest Trail from Dutton Creek Camp to Red Cone Springs. Highway 128 was closed from Monticello Dam to Pleasants Valley Road, officials said. The cause is being investigated. Authorities say some fences were damaged, but no homes have been lost.
Sheriff’s Office said the Grant County International Airport terminal will be open to fire evacuees. Officials say they don’t yet know how many structures have burned or the amount of land.
About 600 people were ordered out of the shoreline town of Sutcliffe over the weekend, and 200 were evacuated from beach areas.
Advertisement
The campfire was reported by two hikers just as the fire broke out on July 22.
